Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father, only he sacrificed and made offerings at the high places.
One verse holds praise and warning together: God says Solomon loved Him, and in the same breath records what he did at the high places. That small word "only" marks the flaw that later ruins his reign and shapes Judah's worship for generations.
A real love, honestly recorded
The testimony God gives here is genuine, not faint praise. Writers stress that Solomon truly belonged to the Lord, and that his fault sat alongside a real desire to worship:
Leslie M. GrantYet Solomon was a believer. He loved the Lord and sought to walk in the ways of David, except for his worship in high places. He seems to have thought that, since he wanted to worship the Lord, he should do it in the most prominent places. Gibeon had a great high place, so he went there to offer 1000 burnt offerings (v.4). People today often think the same way: that the most beautiful church is where they ought to worship. In Solomon's case, the Lord bore with this though. He did not approve it, for God did appreciate the desire of Solomon's heart to be a worshiper.
The weight of "only"
The verse turns on one small word — small on the page, small in Solomon's life, and that is the danger:
A. J. PollockWe read he "loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father, ONLY he sacrificed and made offerings at the high places." It was good that he loved the Lord, good that he followed the excellent example of his father. But this "ONLY," was a fatal flaw, a weak place in his armour, something that led to disastrous consequences.
Why sacrificing at high places was failure
High places were raised sites for sacrifice. With no temple built yet, they looked like a reasonable choice. The real problem lay somewhere else:
Morrish Bible DictionaryAt the start of Solomon's reign the people sacrificed in high places because the temple was not yet built. This was failure… The tabernacle was there at Gibeon, so it looked like the right place to go, and it was there that God appeared to Solomon in the night. Yet it was still "the great high place." The reason for this implied disapproval is no doubt that the ark was not there. The ark was the symbol of God's presence, and where it stood was the true place of worship.
There was a cost to Israel's shared life too:
H. L. RossierIn any case, this practice scattered worship in Israel. And so Israel lost the unity of worship, because the altar — among other things — expressed that unity, just as the Lord's Table does for Christians today.
Solomon measured against his father
Solomon kept David's statutes, yet he did not reach David's faith:
J. N. DarbyHe loved the Lord. God gave him the task of doing all that was needed to display His glory. But his heart did not rise to the faith that counts on the secret of God's love when that glory is not on display. That faith sees God's love through all the things He still bears with. That faith was David's own strength… Better to be small and despised at the ark than to hold the glory of the kingdom and worship on the high places.
God's patience is not God's approval
Why did God let this pass for a time? One writer answers, then warns against misusing the answer:
William KellySo, even though it may have been a failure, the Lord met it with tender mercy and compassion toward His people. He did so until His own power had set up the visible signs of His worship. After that, going off to the high places at once brought down the Lord's judgment… So the wicked heart turns the mercy of God — His patience in a day of difficulty and trial — into an excuse for sin, when no excuse is possible.
The long consequence
What God bore with in one king hardened into a national habit — and it caught Solomon himself:
H. L. RossierSolomon does not follow his father's walk. He turns aside from it and sacrifices to the Lord on the high places. It was a dangerous practice, and it bore appalling fruit when the king let his heart be carried away by foreign women (1 Kings 11:7). From that day on, Judah never banished the sacrifices on the high places, this tradition of Solomon's reign.
Summary
- Loved — God's own verdict on Solomon is warm and real. Scripture sets the fault beside that real love, not in place of it.
- Only — one small word marks the weak place in the armour. Good beginnings fall not to open rebellion but to the small thing left unrepaired.
- Altar, not ark — Solomon worshipped where everyone could see. David worshipped at the ark, where only faith could look. That is the gap between them.
- Borne, not blessed — God's patience while no temple stood was mercy for a hard moment, never permission. Treating that patience as approval is how a heart excuses sin.
- Inherited — what one king tolerated, a nation kept. The high places outlived Solomon, drew his own heart away in the end, and Judah never got rid of them.